In A Flash
by SincerelyShania
Summary: ONESHOT. Minato looks back on the day of his death as he spends his final moments on Earth upon the conclusion of the Fourth Great Ninja War.


Tragedy rained down upon us as if it were a violent storm; with the Masked Man came utter chaos, and, in a time that could rival even that of my lightning fast speed, life as I knew it came to an abrupt end.

In a flash, darkness conquered our world.

They used to call me the "Child of Prophecy"; I was to be the savior that brought peace to the world, as Master Jiraiya would explain, but that was not the role that I was destined to fulfill. My greatest accomplishment did not come until the day of my death, and although many people interpret my tale as tragic, I carry pride within my heart for how I lived as well as how I died.

You really never know when your time will be up. My last day amongst the living, I had not managed to get much sleep the night before. My beautiful wife, Kushina, was scheduled to give birth to our first child come evening, and despite any skill I may have possessed as a shinobi, I could not contain my excitement at the thought of finally being able to meet my son. From the moment my wife announced her pregnancy to me, I knew that true fulfillment in life would come with our little one the moment he entered the world.

Although our enthusiasm about becoming parents increased significantly with each passing day, we were bound by secrecy about any information regarding Kushina's labor and childbirth arrangements. You see, my wife was no ordinary woman, and I don't just mean in terms of her beauty, strength, or charm (though she had an abundance of every one of them); she was the jinchuriki—the human vessel—to a ferocious demon called the Nine-Tailed Fox. Chosen as the demon fox's vessel due to her special chakra that was unique in terms of sealing techniques, she understood the risk that pregnancy brought with it, but she decided that she had made enough sacrifices in her time of being the jinchuriki to the Nine-Tails and would not permit her predicament to keep her from becoming a mother. Sometimes I wonder if I should have made a call as the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village and urged her against having a child, but as her lover, I could not rob her of her happiness and shared her dream of becoming a parent much too passionately to do so.

We didn't have to try for long before we were blessed with the news of conception. I remember the day that Kushina rushed into our living room announcing we would be parents as if it were only yesterday; never before had I seen her glow as she did while she expressed her joy at becoming a mother, and I found her even more beautiful than I ever had before, although I did not think such a thing possible. I was going to be a father—she, a mother—and nothing brought us more happiness than those simple facts.

Throughout the beginning of the pregnancy, my wife and I shared our ideas concerning names for our unborn child. With each passing day, her stomach grew, and our determination to pick a fitting name grew with it. When my former sensei and longtime mentor, Jiraiya the Toad Sage and Legendary Sannin, asked me to read over his newest literary work, there was no way I could have known that I would stumble upon the three syllables that sounded just right to call our son. The novel told of a gutsy hero, referred to as Naruto, who shined even in the face of adversity and was on a mission to rid the world of war, conflict, and hatred. Kushina and I both felt that, after reading about the main protagonist in Jiraiya Sensei's novel, we wanted our child to grow up equally as driven, gutsy, and courageous.

The days seemed to fly by as Naruto continued to grow, healthily and seemingly happily, until the time had come for Kushina to give birth. She struggled—well, we both did—with keeping the grand arrival of our son a secret, especially after she met with Mikoto Uchiha and her infant son, Sasuke; she came home excitedly rambling on about how cute Sasuke was and how she dearly hoped that he and Naruto would become friends someday. Honestly, she was speaking so quickly that I missed a lot of what she said, but I was too infatuated with the happiness that she was expressing to interrupt her.

My wife was scheduled to give birth in a secure location that was guarded by ANBU Black Ops and beyond the immediate perimeter of the village to prevent any disasters from taking place, as the seal bounding the Nine-Tailed Fox to her was expected to weaken during childbirth. It's funny—looking back, I was much more nervous for her than she was for herself. Despite many people looking to me as the backbone of the village, it was she who gave me the strength that I possessed, and her confidence the day that Naruto was born was further testament to that.

Unfortunately, confidence could not save us from disaster…and nor could my power.

Kushina's delivery of our son went relatively smoothly; I marveled at her tolerance and patience as she aided him in making his entrance into the world, and before we knew it, a strong cry pierced the air. As tired and stressed as we both were, we were overcome with joy for we knew no moment in our lives could rival that which we were experiencing. Our happiness was short-lived, however, as a man in an orange mask—only revealing one eye and keeping the rest of himself covered with a thick, black cloak—made his way into the birthing room and took Naruto from us, threatening to harm him if my wife was not given to him. A father should never be required to choose between his lover and his child, but in the moment, I knew that Naruto had to be the priority…Kushina would have never forgiven me if I had let him perish that day.

The masked man captured my wife and extracted the Nine-Tails while I was concerned with my son. She had always dabbled in the impossible, and in this time of chaos, she did it again; Kushina lived through the extraction of a tailed beast, despite it causing heavy trauma to her already weakened body. It was all I could do to reunite her and our newborn. She thanked me, knowing it wasn't necessary…but maybe it was just her way of trying to get me to stay at their sides for a moment longer because right afterward she begged me not to go—not to take on the masked man and the now rampaging Nine-Tailed Fox. Having supported me in my journey to become Hokage, she realized very well that her pleas would fall on deaf ears. It was my duty to protect the village, my wife and son included, even at the cost of my life.

After leaving Kushina and Naruto in an underground bunker in hopes that they would be safe, I tracked down the masked man using my Flying Thunder God technique. The mysterious assailant was incredibly strong, and in the end, I could not finish him off; instead, I merely broke the control he had on the demon fox, and he escaped into the darkness of the night. I knew that for the sake of my village I had to think fast, so I summoned a trusty old comrade of mine—Gamabunta the Chief Toad of Mount Myoboku; with him as my ally, we charged toward the Hidden Leaf Village. I made the choice not to inform him of my entire plan in fear that he would attempt to stop me. The day I chose to become the Hokage, I understood the possible prices of my dreams and opted to pay for them myself. My life was not only my own; it was intertwined with each life that was held within the village I loved so dearly, and I was completely willing to put it on the line.

Upon reaching the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I instructed Gamabunta to jump onto the demon fox's back and push his mouth shut from above. I presumed that the tactic would prevent the angry spirit from dealing any further damage while I transported him to another location. I quickly motioned my usual hand signs, teleporting my enemy and me to an empty field surrounded by forest and leaving my comrades to wonder. Although it burdens my heart to have left my friends and allies as I did, I do not regret the decision I made that day; had they accompanied me on my mission, more lives would have been lost needlessly.

Once the Nine-Tails and I arrived in the field, I used what was some of the last of my strength to summon Kushina and Naruto to my location as well in order to prevent the weight of the demon fox from caving in the bunker and killing the two people I held most dear to my heart. My wife must have seen the fatigue in my eyes; her own blue orbs seemed to tremble with sadness and worry. I could not be dishonest with her, so I explained to her that I did not have much chakra left. To come clean, I must admit I was afraid—I feared losing my family just after we had become one. I feared facing a beast far beyond my strength and size. I feared seeing my home crumble before my eyes, but most of all…I feared my wife and son being separated. It was all she ever wanted to be a mother, and I was willing to do anything in my power to provide her dream with a future; after all, in our time together, she had made sure that all of mine came true, so it was the least I could do in return.

As I looked into my wife's tired eyes, the Nine-Tailed Fox lumbered toward us, hatred evident in his expression. Although I was daunted and exhausted, I refused to give into the darkness that attempted to conquer my family and home; I couldn't, especially not with Naruto watching. I spun around to meet the massive fox's gaze, and upon sensing the bloodlust within him, my resolve became clear: I would take part of the beast with me to the afterlife, and the remaining half…

Kushina must have become aware of my intentions—call it a lover's intuition—because before I could perform the forbidden jutsu that would rid the world of both myself and a large portion of the demon fox's chakra, she spoke up from behind me, informing me that she could still help. Before I could process what she meant, chains of chakra shot out from her back and wove their way around our foe's body, restricting him to the place at which he stood. The technique came at a price for Kushina, as she began hacking and wheezing. I rushed to her side, but, very quickly, it became clear that she did not want any words of comfort from me; she had found her resolve as well, it was much too similar to my own.

My heart nearly ceased beating at hearing my beloved wife condemn herself to death, stating that she would take the Nine-Tails with her to her grave to give the village time to prepare before he reappeared in the world. As a leader, I should have encouraged her plan; I should have allowed her to sacrifice herself for the greater good of the village, but as her husband, the thought of a world without her and living a life that she deserved much more than myself crippled my very soul. I felt useless.

I weeped into Kushina's beautiful red hair—our own personal "red thread of fate"—as she attempted to reassure me of the future. "Minato, don't look so sad. I'm happy…that I'm loved by you. Plus…" she breathed out in a hushed voice, glancing down at the infant she was cradling in her arms before continuing. "Today is the child's birthday, so…Most of all, if I were to imagine me alive and our future together as a family of three, then I can't imagine us being anything but happy."

Through tears I glimpsed the hypothetical scenario that Kushina referred to; I could see her, Naruto, and me sitting around a table, laughing and eating dinner all together, but I knew that the picture-perfect dream we envisioned could never become reality. We had become a broken home the moment we had become a true family, and now, we held our son in the face of a demon, too saddened and fatigued to show him the love that had manifested in our hearts during the nine months that he grew within his mother. It was a cruel fate that the universe had dealt us.

My wife was dying, and I was not long behind. I remember my mind racing as I attempted to cope with the inevitability of our deaths; I thought of Naruto going throughout his life without having any memories of his parents' faces, and my determination was reignited.

Stepping in between my loved ones and the beast that threatened our lives, I explained to Kushina what needed to be done. I planned on using the Reaper Death Seal to drag part of the Nine-Tail's powerful chakra into the afterlife with me, and to deal with what remained…I explained that I would have to seal it within Naruto. Using our own chakra, I would make sure that when Naruto hit certain stages in his development as a jinchuriki, we would be able to meet with him at different times.

Kushina seemed to cower from me at hearing my words; I could see the uncertainty and fear for our child in her eyes, but as I stared into the face of Death, I had become positive of two things: one was that the masked man was the person destined to bring catastrophe to the world, and the other…Well, the other was that our son, Naruto, was the true "Child of Prophecy" that Master Jiraiya spoke of. He would be the one to lead the world into an era of peace, and it was never my role to play.

My wife pleaded with me, cried the tears of a mother whose only wish in life was that her child should live happily, but she eventually relented, understanding that our obligation as shinobi was just as important as our obligation as parents. I successfully performed the first stage of my plan, sealing half of the demon fox's chakra within myself using the Reaper Death Seal; the chakra was heavier than I expected, however, and hindered me greatly. I slowly made my way over to my newborn son, attempting to fight death each step of the way. To my horror, I was not able to perform the second stage of my plan quickly enough.

As Kushina's health quickly declined, her jutsu weakened, allowing for the Nine-Tailed Fox to launch an attack using his massive claws; our bodies moved on their own, and we jumped in the way of the attack. Although we were able to prevent the beast from harming Naruto, we were impaled and our already rapidly approaching fate crept even more closely to us. We were granted just enough time for Kushina to give motherly advice to our little one, although no time could have been enough. She spoke through her tears, and I looked on through mine, knowing my words could never compare to what was flowing so effortlessly from her lips. She apologized to me, true to her nature, saying that she had spoken too long, but I would have given anything to hear her ramble on even longer.

Our time was up. I sealed the Nine-Tails within Naruto before his mother and I unwillingly left him to face the world alone. We worried for him; our souls prayed for his safety and happiness until the days we got to see him again.

Naruto appeared to me first, once the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra overwhelmed him to the point of him growing eight tails. Next, he appeared to Kushina when he tried to conquer the same chakra that had previously almost consumed him. Even in death, we were proud parents and were blessed to have seen the man he had grown into.

As I recite this story, I look after my son as he stands at the front of a united force consisting of shinobi from each of the Great Nations, all brought together by his determination and love. I was temporarily resurrected, but now that the Fourth Great Ninja War has come to an end, I am sure I will not be here much longer. Although I am delighted to see Naruto becoming the foundation for a new era of peace, I am not surprised; I knew that this was the role he was meant to play, and he had helped me fulfill mine—I was meant to father a brilliant child, and I could not have dreamed of a more fitting part for me. It is his birthday once again, and on this day, he is turning seventeen; in a mere seventeen years, he has shed light upon even the darkest corners of the world, and the only words I can think to say to him are, "Happy birthday, son," because just like the day that Kushina and I perished, I feel none of my words could do enough justice. Naruto seems to understand my dilemma as he smiles and provides me with a list of things to tell his mother; I promise him I will pass it on as I fade from the land of the living once again, and I think about how he shines more brightly than I ever could have.

The fire that Naruto managed to ignite does not cast shadows on those around him but instead leaves them with a glow of their own. I am the Yellow Flash; I illuminate my surroundings in a fleeting burst of energy and brilliance, but he is a source of unending warmth and illumination. In simple terms, he is the sun. Thanks to his selfless efforts, the years of darkness have come to an end, and…

In what seems like a flash, light has reclaimed the world…in the form of a hero that I love.

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A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to read my fanfiction! Please feel free to review the story and let me know what kinds of thoughts you have in regards to it! I take all of the feedback I get to heart and use it as motivation for more fanfictions. I hope you enjoyed!


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